I give Palm Beach Atlantic a great shot to be top 5 this year and a national title contender. I know he brings back 11/12 player from a team that did very well last year. With Greensboro and Peidmont having to reload so many players, I don't know how they can beat him this season.

Also, when I was trying to pick off a long distance juco recruit in California without success, noticed Whittier grabbed 2 very solid jucos in his backyard (that I couldn't beat him out for despite trying). If those players develop his team will be strong. It will be interesting to see how much their low IQ hampers the team (although I have no idea how to isolate the impact of IQ)

Game of the night#12 Louisiana (24-9 last season) at #4 Texas Lutheran (31-4 last season) (-6)

I won't promise I can do this all season long, but we're going to try it again and see what happens. Surprisingly, this is the only meeting between top 25 teams to begin the non-conference season. Texas Lutheran dropped a rough one in the national championship game last season while Louisiana advanced to the Elite Eight. Fans will have a chance to see Texas Lutheran super-stud Rodrigo Rangel (19.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg as a junior) begin his farewell tour (and not a moment too soon in the eyes of many ASC coaches...). It's a great heavyweight throw down to begin Season 65. Best of luck to everyone!

Love it! Very true. This team will be rolling with four walk-ons. Had to cut a few and balance out some classes... hopefully we'll bring back this team into contention in a few seasons Took a few last time in D3 with Emory as well (which Phalla then turned into a beast!), but this one starts a little bit more rough, especially when only going 8-deep!

Emory begins the year with adjusted cores of 52/51/56 in the Ath/Spd/Def triumverate. There’s eight upperclassmen on the roster, including five that tip the scales at 600+ rating to start the season. While the numbers look pretty good, I do see two areas of possible concern. First, Emory is potentially weak on the low blocks with only two players above 50 LP value. Both of those are 70+, but one at least is listed as an SG. Also, for a team with eight upperclassmen, the IQs show a lack of A’s right now. That could change by season’s end, but at least provides some cause for optimism to Emory’s foes.

Millsaps (brianxavier, Preseason No. 1, 29-4, Final Four)

This group adjusts to 55/54/53 for a nice starting point. Good upperclass representation with eight juniors and seniors around. Like the preseason ranking indicates, Millsaps probably starts the year with the best set of numbers in Rupp this season. Looking for weaknesses, Millsaps shares Emory’s lower LP rating and could be in even worse shap with only one player in the 70s. The team rebounding number looks a little low as well, but the high ath/spd will compensate for some of that. Also, an elite rebounder in Carter (96) and an above-average one in Smith (82) will make up for what the guards can’t get to.
Penn St. Altoona (frankgrimes1, Preseason No. 3, 28-5, Elite Eight)

One of the speediest sets of ballhandlers n the Rupp world this season and an awesome 58/49/61 with the option to still stuff a redshirt on someone and alter those values slightly. The upper-end values aren’t as impressive as some other teams, but the depth is there, with No. 9 on the ratings roster still weighing in at 523. Only one perimeter shooter over 70 could hamper the team from the perimeter at times this season, but speed will allow for a slash and hacked attack.

Wentworth (chewchad, Preseason No. 6, 22-9, PI 2nd round)

Surprise! Yes, I dissed chad as being overrated at No. 6 in the conference previews because at the time the adjusted rating just didn’t look like I’d expect most seasons. After looking through two dozen more conferences and looking at the top teams though, it appears we’re in a down cycle across Rupp and programs across the board (mostly) are starting the season 10-ish points lower than normal. In that environment, Wentworth doesn’t look bad. He has two of the highest rated players in Rupp in Turner (729) and Woodcock (716) and good upperclass representation not found in some other highly ranked teams. Not as athletic as other teams with a 44/52/47 set for Ath/Spd/Def. The BH and Passing start off the charts for D3 at 54-48 adjusted for the redshirt. Will that be enough to make up for an Ath that starts considerable lower? Only time will tell.

No. 12 Louisiana appeared on the way to scoring a mild upset to open Season 65 until disaster struck in the second half of its game at No. 4 Texas Lutheran. TL held Louisiana scoreless for a period of more than five minutes in the second half and held its University conference foe without a basket for some nine minutes in the second half to take control of the contest. Louisiana attempted to climb back into the game by hitting back-to-back 3-point buckets late to draw close, but Texas Lutheran slammed the door with a trey of its own. Rodrigo Rangel dropped 23 points and 10 rebounds on Louisiana to lead the way for TLU, who moved up to the No. 1 spot in the land with the victory.

Lynchmob1414 and brianxavier meet for the ninth time, with the two Rupp heavyweight coaches evenly split in their eight previous encounters. UMMA enters the contest fresh off a 20-point win over North Carolina Wesleyan. Millsaps takes to its home floor in the hope of answering early season concerns as voters dropped the team from No. 1 to No. 3 in the polls after brianxavier's crew failed to approach covering the 77-point spread against cupcake Finlandia (but still managing a 31-point win...). Truth be told, this is only the second-best game of the night...there's a bigger fight brewing when new No. 1 Texas Lutheran travels to No. 4 Wentworth in a clash of Way Too Early Final Four selections, but since we just featured TL, I'll spread the love and just provide some bonus coverage tomorrow of the top-five showdown.

No. 3 Millsaps 77, No. 11 US Merchant Marine 48
Millsaps held UMMA to 31.5 percent shooting for the game on the way to a 77-48 rout. Millsaps led by only eight points at halftime, 29-21, as it seemed to be destined for a low-scoring affair. That changed as soon as the second half started. Brianxavier's crew held Merchant Marines to just one basket for the first 7+ minutes of the second half as the lead surged up to 20 points. Speaking of 20 points, Dennis Ellis came off the bench to knock down 20 points for Millsaps in just 18 minutes of court time. John Smith with the double-double at 11 points and 13 boards while Everett yarbrough had 14 points despite limited minutes as a starter. Millsaps enjoyed a 45-32 edge on the glass.

In bonus coverage, there's a new No. 1 in the land as No. 4 Wentworth knocked off former No. 1 Texas Lutheran by a 78-67 final count. Wentworth forced 26 turnovers in the contest and TL misfired on all eight of its shots from downtown. Rodrigo Rangel tried his best with 31 points and 9 boards for Texas Lutheran, but Wentworth was able to get more production up and down the lineup for the win. Mark Turner was the only one of chewchad's players to reach double figures with 16 points (and four blocks). Penn St. Altoona will try its hand as the No. 1 team in the land as Wentworth moves up just one spot with the victory.

Tonight's feature game: #17 Calvin (2-0) at #10 Buena Vista (2-0)
It's a top 20 showdown in the heartland as Calvin leaves the mitten state to travel to Iowa to take on westcoast22's Buena Vista squad. Buena Vista has scored 96 points in each of its two wins this season, but needed overtime to pick up one of those W's (against Sewanee). Calvin and head coach prc56 has posted a pair of victories by comfortable margins in the teens. Once again, the only encounter between ranked opponents tonight.

How does everyone feel about their teams?
I like what we got here at Concordia. We start 4 Sr. and 1 Jr. so we have a good experienced team. We have been really young the past couple of seasons and have been decent enough to make the tournament so I think we will have a great season.

There are some facts about my team that I just noticed:
1. 1/3 of my team has the first name James
2. The 2 juniors on the team both have the first name James
3. 7 out of the 12 players have a name that starts with a J.
4. All four freshman have a name that starts with a J.

#10 Buena Vista 60, #17 Calvin 50
Calvin jumped out to an 11-2 lead, held a 31-20 advantage at halftime and was crusing by 13 points, 43-30 with just over 14 minutes remaining when disaster struck. Buena Vista held Calvin to a single basket over an 11-minute span. During that time, the Iowa school was able to embark on a 20-2 run that turned the game on its ear.
"I don't understand," said Calvin coach prc56. "It wasn't like they were doing anything different or began defending us differently. We just stopped making shots. It can be a funny game sometimes."
Ball handling issues may have contributed to Calvin's demise as well. The Calvinites turned the ball over 11 times in the second half, compared to just three giveaways by Buena Vista, who vaulted to No. 5 in the latest poll. It was part of a larter 21-11 disparity in the turnover department for the game. Andre Curry and Tim Arriola both had 11 points for Buena Vista in the win.

Tonight's featured game: #2 Millsaps (3-0) at #8 Colorado (3-0)
Another top-10 showdown and one of two games pairing Top 25 teams against each other tonight (Northland-Texas Lutheran is the other). Millsaps capitalized on inept opposition coaching to cruise into the contest with an 80-43 win last night (I confess, it was me...). Millsaps' early-season defense has been positively on fire, holding two of three opponents to fewer than 50 points and surrendering no more than 52 in any game yet this season. That could change tonight as bdpoor's crew looks to defend its home floor. Colorado has scored 65 or more points in each game this season and won all three by a double-digit margin.

we are languishing from the 4 starts i promised to incoming players. don't know how we snuck a win by last night, but it's going to be a long season. that said, i'm thrilled with the class i signed, and pretty soon we're gonna be nasty. (hopefully by tourney time)